August anderson



A. ANDERSON.

TOY.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.12, |919.

' 1,322,217. PatentedN0v.18,1919.

/VVE/V T A- ANDERSD/V AUGUST ANDERSON, OF BERKELEY, CALIFRNIA.'

TOY.

Speccati-on of Letters Patent. Patented N0v.118, 1919.

Application filed March 12,1919. Serial No. 282,229. i

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUST ANDERSON, a Citizen of the United States, residing at Berkeley, in the county of Alameda and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Toys, of which the following is a specification.

The object of the present invention is to provide a toy which can be used as a top in three different ways, namely, as an ordinary spinning top, as a traveling top, and as a top movable up or down on a string.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved toy; Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the same; Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are perspective views showing the top in use in three different ways.

Referring to the drawing, 1 indicates the main body of the top, which comprises two disks 2, and a pin 3, having pointed ends and centrally passing tightly through holes 4 in the disks, so that said disks are secured on said pin at a short distance from each other, preferably at a distance just sufficient to receive a winding string 6. Extending obliquely through one of said disks from its outer side and through the pin isa hole 8, through which can be threaded a needle 9, to which is attached, as shown at 11, one end of the string 6. When said string has been drawn by means of said needle almost entirely through said hole, its rear end while lying against the side of the disk in which is the hole, is retained in position by pressing the operators finger thereon, and the string is then wound around the pin between the two disks. The toy is then ready for operation in either method of use.

The toy may be used as an ordinary spinning toy in the following manner. There is provided a holder 13, consisting of a piece of spring wire bent in the middle, as shown at 14, and of which the two sides are bent back on themselves, as shown at 16, in planes at right angles to that of the middle bend 14, and then back again in the same planes, as shown at 17. The body 1 of the toy is then placed so that the two terminal portions of the pin are received in the bends 17 of the two parts of the wire. The two parts of the wire are then pressed together by the hand, thus holding the device firmly in place. Placing one end of the pm 3 upon the floor or a table, the string is then pulled, while, at the same time, the pressure on the two parts of the wire is reduced This causes the top to spin rapidly upon the pin 3, and at the same time to travel outward from the bends 17 of the wire, and it then spins upon one end of the pin like an ordinary top, and I have found that, when thus used as a top, it will spin not less than three times as long as other tops.

It Can also be used as a traveling top. For this purpose, the same handle is used and the body is placed in the same position in the bends 17 of the handle, but the perphery of the body, instead of the pin, is placed upon the ground. When the string is sharply drawn, causing the top to rotate, it will run along the pavement for a very great distance before stopping by friction.

The third way that the device can be used as a toy is as follows. For this method, it is necessary to form a loop 18 on the rear end of the string, which loop 18 is passed over one end of the pin, then, after winding up the top as before, and holding the free end of the string by the fingers, the toy is dropped. In dropping, a rapid rotation is imparted thereto by reason of the string being coiled around it. When the string has been fully unwound and the top has reached the bottom of the string, its rotation causes it to wind itself up on the string in a direction the reverse of that in which it was wound before. This winding of the string may be assisted by an upward jerk imparted at the proper time to the string by the operator, and continues until the toy is completely wound up in the string again. The operator then again lets the toy drop, and thus the mode of operation may be continued indenitely.

1. A toy comprising a circular body portion having a groove in its periphery and a pin extending centrally through said body portion at right angles to its periphery and pointed at both ends, said toy having an obliquehole passing from one side of said body portion into said pin, and communieating with said groove, a string adapted to pass through said hole, the forwardly extended portion of said string passed through said hole being wound around said body portion in said groove and a holder comprising a spring wire bent double, each portion of the wire being bent ina plane at right angles to the plane of the first bend and then back again in the saine plane, the latter bends being suiiieiently large to receive the terminal portions of said pin.

2. A toy comprising two equal disks, a pin iitting tightly in central holes in said disks, the disks being spaced from each other on said pin a distance just suiicient to receive therebetween a Winding string, one of said disks and the pin having a hole 10 passing obliquely therethrough from the outer side to the inner side of the disk, a needle adapted to pass through said hole, a string secured to said needle, and a holder comprising a spring Wire bent double, each portion of the Wire being bent in a plane at 15 right angles to the plane of the first bend and then back again in the same plane, the latter bends being sufficiently large to re ceive the terminal portions of said pin.

AUGUST ANDERSON. 

